Tuesday, April 19, 2011

British actress Elisabeth Sladen, the real-world alter ego of plucky journalist Sarah Jane Smith, one of the best companions to renegade Time Lord known as The Doctor, has passed away at age 63 from cancer.

Sladen joined Doctor Who in the 1973 serial, "The Time Warrior," as the new companion of the Third Doctor, played by John Pertwee. She stayed in that role for three years, tagging along as the Third Doctor became the Fourth (Tom Baker). So beloved by fans - and producers - of Doctor Who, she returned to the franchise numerous times: first in the 1981 spin-off "pilot," K-9 & Company, and then in the same year's anniversary special, The Five Doctors. In 2006, she returned to the revived series in the acclaimed "School Reunion" episode, which led to the BBC green lighting her own show, The Sarah Jane Adventures. She was shooting the fifth season of that series when she passed away.

I'm pretty sure that the first full episode of Doctor Who I ever saw was "Robot," on PBS back when I was in art school, around 1983 or 84. Sladen co-starred with Tom Baker in that story, and I think I fell in love with her right then and there. Sarah Jane Smith is still my favorite Doctor Who "companion," and proved herself a formidable heroine in her own right. Smart, brave, cute-as-a-button and prickly as a cactus, Sarah Jane - and by extension, the actress who portrayed her so well - was my kind of woman.

Rest in Peace, Ms. Sladen... and so long, Sarah Jane - the finest companion a time traveler could ever hope for.

Sunday, April 03, 2011

There are at least four comic book-based super-hero movies coming out this Summer: Thor, X-Men: First Class, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Green Lantern. While I'm not particularly interested in the X-Men prequel, I am looking forward to Thor and Captain America; they look pretty good.

The one I'm really eager to see, though, is Green Lantern.

I've always loved Green Lantern. The costume, the magic ring, the space opera elements -- especially the space opera elements -- the "Silver Age" Green Lantern is just such a cool character/concept. And while I was definitely enthused about the character getting a live-action feature film, I was initially a bit wary. But this new footage not only assuages my fears, but genuinely excites me. It's almost exactly what I think a Green Lantern movie should be. I think Ryan Reynolds brings just the right fighter pilot "Top Gun" cockiness to Hal Jordan, and I love the realization of Oa, the ring, and the major Green Lantern Corps characters like Abin Sur, Sinestro, Tomar Re and Kilowog. I was a bit skeptical about the design of the lantern power battery and the CGI-costume when I first saw the stills, but I love how they look on film. Lantern's uniform is supposed to bea construct of the ring, after all...

Welcome to Atomic Pulp

Christopher Mills is a professional writer of comic books and short fiction in a variety of genres, as well as a DVD reviewer for several pop culture websites. His taste in entertainment clearly peaked when he was about 15, which certainly explains his embarrassing obsession with James Bond, hardboiled crime fiction, comic books, paperback pulps, space opera, Universal/Hammer/Toho Monsters, sword & sorcery sagas, old genre TV shows and vintage B-movies.